New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) members Tuesday protested outside BJP leader Arun Jaitley’s house following which BJP workers held a counter protest against the party.
While the supporters of the Aam Aadmi Party accused Jaitley of trying to topple the AAP government in Delhi, Jaitley said the AAP does not know about governance and was more comfortable holding street protests.
Jaitley, in stinging criticism, said the AAP “does not know statecraft and how to run a government”. He said the AAP was “perhaps unable” to do the work they were mandated to do and their “comfort level is to keep holding street demonstrations”.
On Monday, Madan Lal, the AAP legislator from Kasturba Nagar, had alleged he was approached by men who claimed to be representatives of Jaitley and the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, in a bid to topple the AAP’s minority government in Delhi.
Lal claimed he was offered as much as Rs.20 crore, but had no proof to back his allegations.
Several AAP protesters gathered outside Jaitley’s residence in south Delhi’s Kailash Colony area Tuesday morning and raised slogans and held banners criticising the leader.
The BJP workers, countering the protest, shouted slogans against Kejriwal and accused him of not fulfilling the promises he made to the people of Delhi before the assembly elections.
Amid the protest, Jaitley came out of his house and thanked the party workers for their support while slamming the AAP.
Jaitley also trashed Lal’s allegations. He said that neither he nor Modi know Lal.
Lal had claimed he got a call allegedly from an unknown number Dec 7 from a man who said Jaitley wanted to speak to him.
“He said he got a call on Dec 7. On that day, a day ahead of the results, no one could imagine he would win the seat, and he claims he got a call from me,” said Jaitley. He said the AAP, in order to justify the allegations of Lal, held a press conference Monday and were holding a demonstration against him Tuesday.
He said the AAP government “does not know how to rule” and was resorting to “fareb ki rajniti” (politics of deceit).
He also claimed the AAP would lose the mandate of the people if they continued in this manner.
Protesters from the two parties were separated by barricades as they shouted slogans at each other outside Jaitley’s house.
There was heavy deployment of police personnel, many of whom were in riot gear. (IANS)
